Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-01-01
HOUSEWORK OR wORSEr
Why Should So Many Women Choose

From the Boston Herald
Always the subject OF women's work and wa ge!
Is an interesting one and 1t bids fair to continue
an important one for long time to come. Re
Gently, the New York Tribune has published q Sc
mes OF articles apparently based upon fresh and
patient investigation, concerning the condition Of
the shop and factory girls In New York city. Will
the details Of the Information thus brought tt
light. we do not propose dealing at this time The
significant fact is the one which was well known
before, that there are in New York an immense mum
Der, thousands upon thousands, OF women, not al
young girls, who work long hours at wearying oc
equations for mere pittance, from s. to S. Q
week, out OF which they have to secure lodging
food and clothes Certainly, their situation seems
pitiful Living under such conditions is lmprac
ticable, hardship is Inevitable, sickness or loss OF
situations always probable, anxiety constant
persistent and seductive. When reading such sta
tlstfcS, the marvel u not that so many sin, but
that SO many suffer and die without forsaking the
way OF virtue.
One consequence OF this fresh presentation o.
the hard lot OF self-supporting women In New
much from those In other large ciIies-is renewal
OF the stereotyped proposition OF remedy, thai
women should cease TO seek work In the shops and
factories where there Is surplus OF labor and en-
gage as hOuseservants an occupation tnwhtch there
Is great scarcity Of desirable help. The advantages
OF house service are pictured In the Wen known
with wages in addition, SUFFICIENT for providing
comfortable wardrobe and for modest savings. This
reason IS prefer the and shep
work to the country and housework. Why they
should do so may be surprising, but it is tndsput
sacrifices her honor for the means OF liveli.
hood, rather than do homework and remain virtu.
ous is deserving Of little pity. That is hard
Why do girls prefefer shop life to domestic
service? Probably because they are wrongly edu.
Gated and disciplined. Fathers and mothers are
oC
must contribute TO their own support, look to the
opportunities OF the city rather than the OppOr.
tunities OF the neighborhood, the excitements OF
the shop and the pavement, with q garnet for q
home and meager fare, in preference to the quiet
Kitchen and the neat chamber, with assurance OF
notwithstanding in America. our girls Went into the
mills because they could make more money than
In service. That is not the case nOw nor Is 1t the
could do In hOusework: yet they shun the house
work.
II is not because housewives are more exacting
and less sympathetic than shopkeeperS not be-
cause the "situatiOns" are more permanent, not
because the work is more healthy and more i'm
proving, or more independent In a reasonable way.
know how to do hOusewOrk. They are not too re-
fined, but are too weak, Intellectually and physi-
cally, consciousness OF incapacity and unftness,
precisely the same motive that makes so many
American women shirk the noble satisfaction OF
maternity and the sweet cares OF numerous fam.
n.y. Theye are not only unfit, but, what is worse,
they have no ambition to become nit. The aSpira-
ton TO be fine ladies subjugates the yearning In
Stlncts OF womanhOOd. so marriage becomes the
all chamber and parlOr, without kitchen or nurs-
cry. SO daughters are trained to dine and shine,
but not to cook or care for the sick.
and starving shop girls OF New York to seek the
more profitable fields OF domestic service II they
had the best Will In the world, very few OF them
strength and knowledge, and they lack another
quality quite esSential-the capacity OF thinking
reasonably In quiet, which, on the one hand,
performance OF their duties, and, on the other,
would enable them to bear without melancholy
the strain Of working alone. This is the severest
trial to the woman who has all her life been ac-
customed to the clatter OF the schOolroom, the
shop, the sidewalk and the boarding house.
Hence 1t happens that people who have houses
to be cared for must seek help from the Irish the
Germans, the Swedes or the negroes, who are will
Ing TO do hOuSewOrk, however unsatisfactory.
They have the first essential sufficient physical
strength, and some OF them have the wit to learn
the business, II not from their own mistre3Sas,
from other hOusewOrling girls who have had the
good fortune OF living with mstreSSes competent to
teach them the best methods. Some never arrive at
any but the lowest grade OF skill, being like men
VINO have no aspiration above ditch digging Or
who strive diligently and inteiigenLly to acquire
superiority In their work, or some branch OF It,
as sure OF promotion and the best wages as the
man VINO attainS TO superiority in his trade, what
ever ii is. Competent cooks, competent laun-
dresses, competent chlmbermaids, competent par
IOfmlluS, competent ScalnStreSSeS competent
houaekeepers II also modest and trust worthy, are
as secure OF constant remunerative employment as
any people in this land. They are seldom
found in the Intelligence offices. They have
not often to resort To the advertising columns OF
newspapers. Places open for them in advance OF
their necessities.
Nor does such service prevent Undergraduates
OF marriage and OF Their becoming mistreSses Oh
homes OF their own. II Is little to be wondered au
that young men dependent on their wages do not
marry young, in consideration of the quality and
/, N
Is 1t to be wondered at that so many American
WorkiEsnen marry house servants OF other races.
Any honest and sensible woman who knows how
to Keep house neatly and economically has a
recommendation no man will despise, and allur-
Ing charms for men who know they cannot afford
TO maintain wlIe that will not, or cannot, work
men who, when they have Il home, want IL
kept SO as to be a place OF more comfort than a
boarding mouse. There Is no young woman, no
matter what her other accomplishments, who does
hot better her chances Oh HAPPY marriage by Skill
knows OF possesses, II this be wanting her throne
as the queen OF her home is insecure.
Men who Wear Diamonds.
From the st. Louis Republican.
While i'm The Morton hO,lSp he othar evopipo 7